The Hole In The Strawberry's Heart
by Chibi Yuuki-Chan
Summary: Ichigo, full of guilt from his mother's death, gets accepted into an elite rich school: Karakura Shinigami Academy. There, Ichigo meets the idol Orihime & popular tomboy Rukia. Would someone like Ichigo manage to adjust into a school full of rich, gorgeous girls and handsome guys? Will anyone be able to fill the hole in his heart? AU. HitsuXKarin Bonus Story. Better summary inside.
1. Nightmare

**A/N:**

**This is an AU and it is set up before Ichigo enters high school. There might be some random OCs and maybe a tinge of OOC. Reviews would be greatly appreciated.**

**Summary:**

**Ichigo Kurosaki, full of guilt from his mother's death, gets accepted into one of the elite rich schools: Karakura Shinigami Academy. Problem is that Ichigo doesn't want to go. Karin and Yuzu, however, doesn't agree to Ichigo's refusal nor do they want to hear his reason. With their constant nagging and by feeling guilty of hurting their feelings, Ichigo reluctantly agrees to go for his sisters' sakes. Would someone like Ichigo manage to adjust into a school full of rich, gorgeous girls and handsome guys, especially after meeting the school's idol, Orihime Inoue, and the popular tomboyish, Rukia Kuchiki? What happens when Ichigo learns that his tomboy sister is getting herself into something that has the potential of hurting her? Can this turn of events affect Orihime's and Rukia's effort of healing Ichigo? Will anyone be able to fill the hole in his heart, allowing him to let go of his guilt that's preventing him from moving on? HitsuXKarin Bonus!**

**Disclaimer:**

**I do NOT own Bleach at all. If I did, then I wouldn't be writing fanfiction here. Now, would I?**

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><p>A little orange-headed boy paced back and forth in the same area for over an hour. He occasionally glanced toward the place where he had found his mother dead. She was protecting his unconscious body from something ultimately leading to her death. Tears began to well up and sting his chocolate eyes once more, threatening to fall. He crouched down, burying his head into his knees as dark thoughts began to overwhelm and coat his heart and mind.<p>

"Mom… Why'd you die? What am I going to say to Karin and Yuzu? How can I face them?" Then, realization hit the sobbing boy. "I… I killed my mom. It's all my fault that she's dead."

"Ichi-nii…"

Ichigo lifted his tear-stained face from his knees and glanced towards the direction of the voice. His eyes widened as more tears began to overflow at the sight of Karin and Yuzu standing on top of the white, concrete stairs.

"Karin… Yuzu… I'm sorry…" Ichigo continued sobbing and buried his head into his knees once again.

"Ichigo, you're right." The boy's head instantly shot up and looked at his black-haired sister in bewilderment. "It's your fault. It's all your fault that Mom died!"

Ichigo looked helplessly at his other sister, hoping that she didn't think of him the same way. The timid, brown-haired girl closed her eyes and shrieked accusingly, "Mom died because of you!"

Both girls with no emotion evident in their eyes except for hatred simultaneously yelled, "I wished you had died instead of Mom!"

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><p>Ichigo jolted awake, sweating profusely, tears running down his cheeks. He held his head in his hands and whispered quietly to himself, "It was just a nightmare." He dangled his legs off the side of his bed and tried to shake out the image of his sisters looking at him with cold, heartless eyes. The words of his sisters screaming wouldn't leave his mind.<p>

Slapping his cheeks lightly to forget the nightmare, he wiped the tears off his face and rubbed his temples as a scowl immediately formed on his face. A few strands of sunlight shone in the corner of his eye and he turned to look outside the window. The sky was painted a beautiful scarlet as the sun slowly sank into the horizon, but the scarlet color caused Ichigo to scowl even more, remembering the blood that covered his mother when he awakened from under her.

"Ichigo!" Yuzu's voice sang from the other side of the door. Ichigo stiffened as the sound of the doorknob turning slowly reached his ears. "Are you up yet?" The door immediately swung open and a smiling Yuzu popped into his room. "Huh? Are you okay? You look pale."

Now, breaking into a cold sweat, Ichigo choked out the words with great difficulty. "Y-yeah. I'm fine."

Yuzu looked at him suspiciously as she placed her hands on her hips. "Are you sure?"

Ichigo cleared his throat to prevent her misunderstanding from growing any further and responded normally. "I'm fine, Yuzu."

The brown-haired girl broke into a smile and ran to give her orange-headed brother a hug. Ichigo tensed up, but then relaxed, breaking into a slight smile himself. 'It was just a nightmare. Nothing more. That Yuzu wasn't real.'

"GOOD MORNING! ICHIGO!" Isshin exclaimed as he went toward Ichigo at full speed in attempt to kick him.

Without even looking, Ichigo opened the window with his foot and easily lifted Yuzu, dodging the crazy father and gave the idiotic father the deserved don't-crash-just-fall-out-of-the-window trick.

"It's not the morning, stupid. It's evening." Ichigo mumbled to himself.

After confirming the sound of his father hitting the ground with an 'oof!', Ichigo walked out of his room and headed to the dining room with Yuzu still in his arms. Being the good little girl she was, she spoke up with concern evident in her voice. "Don't you think we should check on Dad?"

Ichigo paused as he was in the middle of walking down the stairs. He tilted his head to the side and contemplated for a bit before he looked down at his adorable sister with a smile. "Nah, he's fine. He'll be up to no good as soon as he enters the house again."

"Oh, my dear, lovely Masaki!"

"Well, speak of the devil…" Ichigo mumbled under his breath as he released Yuzu and looking over at the place where Isshin was hugging the photo-shopped poster of his mother.

Isshin continued complaining as tears ran down his cheeks. "Look at how cold our kids have gotten! They don't care about their dear, old father anymore!"

"What happened to you?" asked a completely drenched Karin as she walked in through the front door at that moment.

Isshin and Ichigo stopped doing whatever they were doing to look toward Karin. When they saw Karin soaking wet, their jaws dropped and they both spoke simultaneously. "What happened to _you_?"

Karin coolly looked down at her appearance and pointed to her drenched clothes. "Oh, this? Nothing. Just accidentally broke some puny water hydrant while playing a game of soccer."

'A water hydrant?' Both father and son sweat-dropped after hearing that revelation from the raven-haired girl.

Karin shrugged and continued to make her way past the two mind-blown males. Ichigo, still very confused as to what happened to his sister, followed her with his eyes with suspicion. She walked by the clock and that's when realization hit Ichigo.

"Karin, wait…" He stopped her as soon as she had placed her foot on the first stair step. "Out of all things, how the hell did you break a water hydrant? Also, who in their right mind would play a game of _soccer_ this goddamn late? It's almost 8."

"Didn't I tell you before?" Karin asked as she turned to face Ichigo, leaning on the wall near the staircase. Her gray eyes focused on the strawberry's face while a frown of dissatisfaction formed on her lips. She waited for her forgetful brother to magically remember what she had told him last night while he was listening to his iPod.

Ichigo's scowl deepened the harder he thought. He pulled out a chair from the dining table and sat down with his arms crossed. He looked at Karin and noticed the look of annoyance on her face. After staring at his black-haired sister for a minute or so, Ichigo felt a light-bulb light up in his head and hit his palm with his fist. "Oh, that's right! You came into my room last night."

Karin nodded in approval. "Glad that you finally remembered." She stated as she was about to resume going up the stairs, but froze after hearing the strawberry's nervous chuckle.

"But I wasn't really paying attention…"

Karin immediately stomped up to him and literally yelled in his face. "You what?"

"Sorry," Ichigo began while sheepishly scratching his cheek, "I really don't rememb-"

"Dinner is ready!" announced an extremely happy Yuzu, unaware that she just broke the tension in the air. She had just walked out of the kitchen when a smile even bigger than before appeared on her face after seeing Karin. "Welcome home, Karin. Did you enjoy your game with Hitsugaya-kun?"

Karin stuck her chest out proudly and smirked. "Hell yeah! Toshiro was no match for me."

"Toshiro?" Ichigo questioned. The name sounded so familiar to him yet he couldn't remember who this Toshiro Hitsugaya was.

"Yeah." Yuzu politely began while setting the table and placing food in everyone's plates even though no one else was sitting there except for Ichigo. "You know, Toshiro being–"

"The one who told Karin to tell you to go to Karakura Shinigami Academy instead of Karakura High." finished a certain teal-eyed, white-haired boy dressed in a black t-shirt and jeans, the type with chains dangling on the sides, as he entered the Kurosaki household. He was also equally drenched in water as Karin was with the exception of a mud stain on his knees and lower pant legs. He shoved his hands into his pockets while smirking, "The name's Toshiro Hitsugaya. Nice to meet you."

Ichigo switched glances from Karin and Toshiro as Karin's words from last night played in his mind.

"_Hey! Are you listening, Ichigo? I said Toshiro is coming over to give you the acceptance letter to Karakura Shinigami Academy after we play a game of soccer. By the way, it's a late game."_

'Karakura Shinigami Academy? …Isn't that the private school where the super rich go to?'


	2. Indecisiveness

**A/N:**

**Thank you for the reviews! I'd like to thank Ravun, TheSecondQuincy, and Yemi Hikari for being awesome people and everyone else that enjoyed my first chapter. You are equally as special as these people.**

**Now, onto the second chapter!**

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><p>"Toshiro!" Karin exclaimed in surprise as a grin appeared on her face. She ran up to the boy and pulled him into a hug. The boy tensed with a slight blush appearing across his cheeks and opened his mouth multiple times, unable to say anything. He was somewhat unsure of whether to return the hug or continue standing awkwardly. After closing his eyes with a sigh escaping his mouth, he cleared his throat as a sign to Karin to release him. A smirk formed on her lips as soon as she released Toshiro and grabbed onto his ear, pulling it. "Where the hell did you disappear to, eh? To-shi-ro Hit-su-ga-ya?" She twisted the poor boy's ear while she emphasized his full name in a mischievously sweet voice.<p>

"Ow! You're pulling too hard, damn it!" Toshiro snapped at Karin while attempting to pry his ear from the raven-haired girl. After a few seconds of struggling, he managed to free his red ear. "What the hell, Karin? I had to clean up after you broke the latch off the fire hydrant."

Ichigo and Isshin sighed in relief after hearing Toshiro's words and simultaneously thought. 'So, she did NOT actually break a fire hydrant. It was just a latch…'

"What? Why would you do that?" Karin questioned flabbergasted.

Sighing in irritation, Toshiro waved his hand in front of her face, dismissing the question. "It's not important. Just know that if I didn't do it, I probably would've been somewhere not so pleasant right about now."

"Karin, aren't you going to bring Hitsugaya-kun in?" Yuzu asked sweetly after having finished setting the table and placing food in everyone's plates. There was even a plate for Toshiro. "Ah!" Yuzu exclaimed in realization. "You two are absolutely drenched. What happened to you?"

Everyone in the household sweat-dropped, including Toshiro, 'She just realized it?'

Yuzu ran up to both of them and began pushing Toshiro towards the stairs with Karin following behind them. "Why don't you go change while I wash your clothes for you, Hitsugaya-kun?"

Toshiro seemed uncomfortable as he was being forced to go change. However, he didn't want to be rude to the kind-hearted girl. "Well, I'm alri-"

"Come, come, Toshiro. You can use Ichigo's room to change and I'll give you my clothes since they're for boys anyways." Karin interrupted as she began to assist Yuzu in pushing the white-haired boy.

As soon as the trio reached the stairs, Toshiro threw his hands up in irritation as well as defeat. "Alright! I'm going. Stop pushing me!" The two immediately stopped with smiles on their faces as if they had planned this. When Toshiro turned around to glare at the two and noticed their smiles, he clicked his tongue, turning back around, and began walking up the stairs.

Seeing the events that unfolded in front of father and son, Ichigo leaned over towards Isshin and whispered, "Is there something going on between those two?"

Isshin, equally confused as his son, whispered back somewhat suspiciously, "I don't know. This is my first time seeing him, though I've heard a lot about him from your sisters."

"WHAT?" Ichigo yelled, standing up from the table. Yuzu and Karin looked at him questioningly while Karin mumbled 'idiot' loud enough for him to hear. Somewhat embarrassed with his sudden outburst, he sat back down at the table, next to his father and resumed whispering. "If you've heard of him, why the hell don't I know about this?"

"Really? I thought you'd know already." Isshin replied in his normal voice, forgetting to whisper.

"Know about what?" Karin asked from afar.

Both father and son froze upon hearing her question and turned toward Karin, who was halfway up the stairs. She had a death-look on her face as she stared at the two males with her arms crossed. Both males immediately stood up straight, saluting her, and answered in a panicked voice, "N-nothing!"

After losing interest, Karin shrugged and continued walking up the stairs, ignoring the two stiff males that had saluted to her for some unknown reason. Ichigo and Isshin leaned a little forward, watching Karin disappear from sight. They simultaneously sighed in exasperation and slumped into their seats and both spoke at the same time. "Whew! That was a close one…"

"Dad! Ichigo!" Yuzu exclaimed, waving her finger in front of them as if she were a mother scolding her kids. "You should've started eating your dinner already. Karin and Hitsugaya-kun can join us later, but your food will get cold."

"H-hai…" They answered, both equally feeling ashamed that they were scolded by Yuzu, and began eating their food quietly.

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><p>"What the hell?" Ichigo slammed his hands onto the table while shouting at the white-haired boy that continued eating dinner indifferently while looking at the enraged teen with an annoyed expression. Ichigo stood up from the dining table and knocked his chair down to express his anger towards Toshiro. "Who the hell gave you permission to send MY applications to a school that I don't even want to go to? Who the hell do YOU think you are? Damn it!"<p>

Toshiro narrowed his eyes and placed his fork down onto his unfinished plate. He leaned back in his chair and spoke calmly to Ichigo, but it was clear that he was pissed off as well. "I didn't do it because I wanted to. It was a favor requested to me."

"Favor, my ass! I don't give a damn as to who asked you to do it, but obviously since it pertained to me, I should've been the first person to know about this!"

At this point, Toshiro snapped and stood up from his seat in the same manner Ichigo did a few minutes earlier. "What the hell is your problem? You should be glad that you were accepted into such an elite school that only a few get accepted to! Instead of being grateful to me for going through all that troublesome paperwork, you're snapping at me?"

"Snapping at you? Well, you're damn right about that. I wasn't the one to ask you to go through that damn paperwork anyways!" Ichigo retorted and now both males were practically yelling at each other's faces. If it weren't for the presence of Isshin, Karin, and Yuzu at the dining table, then they would've probably jumped at each other's throats by now.

"SHUT UP!" Karin yelled in the loudest voice she was capable of. Both boys stopped arguing with each other and glared at Karin for interrupting them. She gritted her teeth and forcefully pushed Toshiro back into his seat. Toshiro refused to do so at first, but with one glance into her gray eyes, he reluctantly sat down, crossing his arms across his chest to show that he was still very pissed. Slightly pleased that boy listened to her, she looked at her brother with a mixture of annoyance and disappointment. "Ichigo," she began while quickly glancing toward Yuzu who was nowhere in sight, "did you really mean it when you said that you didn't give a damn as to who asked Toshiro to do that favor?"

Forming a fist by his side, Ichigo clicked his tongue, speaking through gritted teeth. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"She means," a quiet, sweet voice began speaking from behind him, "would you really not care even if your sisters were the ones that asked Hitsugaya-kun to do this?"

Ichigo gasped softly, his chocolate eyes widening, when two small arms wrapped around his abdomen from behind. Ichigo glanced behind him to see Yuzu, burying her face into his shirt. His anger slowly disappeared as he looked at his younger sister, clinging onto his shirt harder which each passing second. His gaze softened and no trace of his rage remained when he felt water soak through his shirt and the slightly trembling Yuzu. The orange-headed teen filled with brotherly feelings turned around to face Yuzu. As Ichigo began turning around, Yuzu immediately released her grip on Ichigo's shirt and covered her eyes with her hands, sniffling as she continued to cry softly to herself. Ichigo knelt down on one knee to Yuzu's level and placed his hands on her shoulders. She stiffened and then relaxed, moving her hands to rub her eyes while gazing at her brother with teary eyes.

As Ichigo's chocolate eyes met Yuzu's, a wave of guilt washed over the teen upon seeing her tear-stained face at a closer glance. He wrapped his arms around his sister, pulling her into a hug, and whispered, "I'm sorry… I didn't mean to scare you…"

The girl then broke down into small sobs while she was being consoled by her brother. Ichigo rubbed her back gently to calm her down as he began thinking about whether he should go to Karakura Shinigami Academy or not.

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><p>The white haired boy stared at the ceiling for what seemed like forever. It had been a couple of hours since dinner and the events that occurred then. After Yuzu had finished crying, she immediately fell asleep on the couch. Ichigo patted Yuzu's head while she slept soundly with her head in his lap. Toshiro was just about to leave himself after he helped Karin clean the dishes, but Isshin had stopped the boy and told him to stay the night. Though Toshiro almost refused the offer, Karin had grabbed his sleeve and quietly whispered to him to stay. He reluctantly nodded, but laid a condition to the adult male, saying that he would rather sleep on the couch than in the same room as Ichigo.<p>

Sighing deeply, Toshiro pulled his phone out of his pocket and opened it. The screen immediately blinded him, for his eyes had already adjusted to the dark living room. He went into his text messages and opened the most recent text he received before he had entered the Kurosaki household. Reading it over again, Toshiro clicked his tongue in irritation and shoved the phone back into his pocket. The conversation during dinner played in his mind and Toshiro's irritation grew upon remembering the argument he had with the teen. However, the irritation was geared towards himself rather than the teen.

"Shit… I messed up…" He mumbled to himself while placing his hands behind his head. As he remembered the scene with Yuzu crying and Karin in sadness, Toshiro felt guilty of the words he said to unintentionally provoke Ichigo. "I shouldn't have done that… Or in this case, said that…"

Toshiro closed his eyes as sleep came to him slowly. The sound of footsteps approached Toshiro, but he disregarded it. That is until he felt a presence loom over him.

"Toshiro…" A voice that belonged to a male whispered quietly while lightly shaking Toshiro. "Are you awake?"

Toshiro cracked a teal eye open and spoke sleepily. "Yeah… I didn't fall asleep yet."

"Can we talk?" The teen asked somewhat nervously.

"I don't see why not." Toshiro answered while sitting up and rubbing the back of his head. "What do you want to talk about, Ichigo?"

Ichigo looked into the boy's eyes with determination. "Karakura Shinigami Academy. I'll go."


	3. Enraged

**A/N:**

**Yay! I actually updated another chapter MUCH earlier than I would've thought. I feel so accomplished. Again, I'd like to thank TheSecondQuincy for her brilliance and support. It's thanks to her that I'm able to continue this story with enthusiasm.**

**Enjoy & Review!**

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><p>Two males like brothers were sleeping soundly in Ichigo's room. Soft snoring could be heard from the white haired boy dressed in a white T-shirt with a picture of a watermelon slice and green pajamas with watermelons all over it. He slept with a serene look on his face near the window side of the bed, his back close enough to almost touch Ichigo's. Clutched in Ichigo's hands was his iPod from which the music playing softly from his headphones acted like background music in an everyday peaceful scene. Everything was so perfectly peaceful for the long tiring night both males had to go through last night to discuss and sort their issues. The key word being that it <em><strong>was<strong>_ a peaceful morning. That is until Isshin barged in panicking, startling the sleepyheads.

"Ichigo, wake up! Toshiro is missing!" Isshin exclaimed in alarm, shaking the sleepy teen violently while completely missing the fact that a half-asleep Toshiro was laying right beside him. "Oh, what could have had happened to the poor boy? Could he have been kidnapped last night from right under our noses?" Isshin had suddenly released his grip on Ichigo, causing Ichigo to fall on the floor. The idiotic father then sprinted out the door, stopping midway in the corridor in front of Karin and Yuzu's door. "Karin, Daddy is sorry for losing your first boy- Oof!"

The door opened right to Isshin's face as an extremely pissed Karin emerged from the room. "Toshiro is NOT my boyfriend!"

"And I'm not missing nor kidnapped…" Toshiro said as he walked out of Ichigo's room, still rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. "How can you be so oblivious to the point where you didn't see me laying right beside Ichigo?"

"I thought you were sleeping on the couch." Isshin and Karin stated simultaneously, both equally confused.

"I'm also wondering where those pajamas came from…" Karin added.

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><p>Yuzu hummed out loud while she washed the dishes from breakfast. She was in such a cheery mood compared to yesterday, but even more so when she heard that Ichigo was willing to go Karakura Shinigami Academy. She had accepted it quite easily compared to her black haired twin sister and father.<p>

"So, what you're saying now is that you want to go to Karakura Shinigami Academy?" Karin questioned her brother while sitting on the couch with half of her attention to the TV and the rest on what Ichigo has to say. Isshin, on the other hand, was fully immersed on what was happening on TV that he had no care in the world as to what was being discussed about his only son's decision.

"For the last time, yes, I'm willing to go. How many times are you going to ask me the same question?" Ichigo sighed as he plopped down onto the couch next to Toshiro, who was currently occupied on his phone. "Hey, Toshiro, why don't you say something to them?"

The boy continued messing with his cellular device, completely ignoring the teen. It was evident that frustration was growing on the teen's face, but when he saw Toshiro's brows furrowed in frustration at his phone's screen, he motioned to Karin to sit beside Toshiro. While Karin sat down beside the boy, she purposefully sat down with extreme force to get Toshiro's attention, but it was in vain.

Karin leaned closer to Toshiro and whispered into his ear in a teasing voice, "Toshiro, shouldn't you be paying more attention to me rather than your stupid phone." She immediately leaned back in her seat with a satisfied expression, but it faded away just as fast as it came. "No reaction…?" She asked herself aloud, shocked that even that didn't shatter his concentration.

Disappointed, she glanced at her father who was still watching TV without a care in the world and Ichigo who was equally as puzzled for Toshiro's intense devotion to his phone. Of course, he didn't know what Karin whispered to him, but he figured must've been something that would've normally snapped the boy back into reality. After a while of thinking and observing, Ichigo snatched Toshiro's phone and began looking at the screen that the boy seemed to have been studying intently.

A light gasp escaped Toshiro's lips as his phone was suddenly taken away from him. After a few seconds of staring blankly at his empty hands, Toshiro snapped back to reality, giving the perpetrator his deserved glare. "What the hell? Give me my phone back I was doing something important!" Startled that Ichigo was actually going through his phone and probably his texts, Toshiro immediately tried to make a grab for it, but Karin grabbed his arms from behind and wrapped her legs around his torso, preventing him from moving as well as not allowing him enough freedom to struggle out of it. "Karin! Let go of me! Ichigo is invading my privacy, damn it!" After attempting to struggle for a while and realizing that it was in vain, Toshiro clicked his tongue in irritation and began yelling at Ichigo. "Damn it! Stop going through my phone! You don't have the right to do that! Hell, I haven't even known you that long!"

Ichigo sighed deeply and looked at the struggling boy that Karin was holding back. Looking back at the screen one more time and thinking of all the texts he went through, Ichigo put his hand on Toshiro's head, pissing off Toshiro even more. "You're right. I haven't known you for that long, but in case you've forgotten, you're friends with my sister." Ichigo stated matter-of-factly, pointing at Karin with his hand that had Toshiro's phone in it.

"What the hell does that have anything to do with this?" Toshiro snapped while glaring angrily at Ichigo.

"…" Ichigo looked at Toshiro blankly and tilted his head, pondering what to say to tie the two together. "If you're friends with Karin, then it's natural for me to be worried about you too. You two are the same age after all, so that sorta makes you my little brother, I guess."

"Hey, guys." Ichigo, Karin, and Toshiro all stopped their bickering temporarily and looked towards the source of the voice: Isshin. He had gotten up from the couch after turning off the TV and began heading toward the stairs. "I'm going upstairs. It's getting too noisy. Let me know when y'all are ready to talk about Karakura Shinigami Academy." By the time Isshin finished talking, he was already way out of sight and the sound of the door slamming echoed in the quiet stairway.

'Even though he was here the whole time, he didn't find it necessary to stop us from fighting with each other…' The trio thought simultaneously while sighing deeply. Ichigo sighed once more and looked at Toshiro's phone again, trying to form his next question.

"Hey, Karin…" Toshiro said in a quiet, somewhat calm tone.

"Yes, Toshiro?" She replied nonchalantly, not releasing her grip at all.

"Let go of me." He hissed.

"Eh~? Why?" Karin playfully asked, tightening her grip. Noticing that Toshiro's head was down and not being able to see his expression, she leaned closer to whisper quietly in his ear as a smirk formed on her lips as she sensed Toshiro's muscles tense even more. "Shouldn't you be happy that a **girl** is embracing you so tightly?"

"…I'm way beyond pissed to be thinking of that." Toshiro stated through gritted teeth while turning his head to the side slightly to look at Karin. His teal eyes locked on to her gray ones for a few seconds before Toshiro broke the gaze, causing the smirk to wipe off Karin's face.

"Oi, Toshiro," Ichigo began, placing his hand on top of Toshiro's head again but also showing the phone's screen to him with his other hand. "Who the hell is this guy texting you such rude things, eh?" He pushed the right arrow on the phone showing Toshiro multiple texts. "Look, it's the same guy the whole time. Why the hell are you still talking to him?"

"That is none of your concern." He replied, staring fiercely into Ichigo's chocolate eyes.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean? This guy is trying to lower your self-esteem and yet you continue to reply to his texts?" Ichigo looked at Toshiro with the same seriousness equal to an overprotective brother.

"It's none of your business!"

Karin sighed at Toshiro's stubbornness and questioned her brother. "So, what do they say? Also, can I let go of him now since you've already went through it…? It's not like he can do anything about it now."

Ichigo looked at Karin blankly. "Wasn't that you who decided to hold him back? I would've been fine either way. That was your choice." Karin's face flushed red and she quickly released Toshiro.

"I was just lending you a hand, stupid! Hmph, what an ingrate!" Karin snapped with embarrassment, crossing her arms across her chest in a pouting manner.

Just then, Toshiro got up from the couch, snatching his phone back from Ichigo, and began heading to the front door. Stopping right after passing the dining table, Toshiro pulled out an envelope from his pocket and placed it on the table. He turned around with an emotionless expression and faced the siblings sitting on the couch.

"The acceptance letter to Karakura Shinigami Academy is here in this envelope. All of the information you need is there." Toshiro became formal and bowed while saying, "Pleased to be of your acquaintance. Now, if you would excuse me." The white haired boy stood up straight, mumbling something, and walked out of the house, slamming the door behind him.

Ichigo and Karin cringed at the force Toshiro exerted on the door. Ichigo glanced at Karin whose gaze remained on the door. "He's pissed, isn't he?"

"Oh yeah, way beyond pissed." Karin looked at her brother, narrowing her eyes. "What was the name of the person that was texting him rude stuff?"

Ichigo rubbed the back of his head while thinking. "Well, it wasn't exactly just rude things. There was a lot of disheartening stuff written in there as if Toshiro has some feud going on with him. The name was… Eh?" He paused and began pondering. "What was it again?"

Karin narrowed her eyes more in irritation. "Don't tell me you –"

Ichigo interrupted her with a nervous chuckle. "Sorry. I forgot. It was a guy though."

"THAT DOESN'T HELP AT ALL!" She yelled after hitting her idiot brother on the head. "Leaving that aside, didn't Toshiro mumble something along the lines of 'Getting involved with this family seemed to be one of my biggest mistakes' or something like that."

"Oh? In that case, you must've pissed off your boyfriend more than you thought." Ichigo stated with a sinister smile on his lips. Karin clenched her fists once again and smacked her brother at the same spot as earlier. "OUCH! What the hell?"

"I already told you." She started speaking through gritted teeth. "Toshiro is NOT my boyfriend!" Karin paused after saying that and looked down with a disturbed facial expression. "That's right… He's not my boyfriend…" She mumbled quietly to herself so Ichigo wouldn't hear, but he shot her a confused look nonetheless. Karin faked a smile and waved it off with her hand, pushing Ichigo out of his seat towards the stairs. "Oh, it's nothing. Come on. Let's call Dad and Yuzu down here and show them your acceptance letter."

"Y-yeah. Sure thing. I'll call Dad." Her brother replied awkwardly and suspiciously as he started heading up the stairs. 'Sorry, Toshiro. I'm worried now, but I had to do that to you since you know the real reason why I'm going to Karakura Shinigami Academy. No matter what, my family should never know the truth, especially Karin and Yuzu.'

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><p><strong>AN:**

**I've officially decided that this story will focus on Ichigo's life (since he's the main character obviously) and Karin and Toshiro's romance life will be a bonus. I just think that'll spice things up, don't you? Ichigo having to focus on his own problems as well as look out for his sister.**

**Please review and if you want to throw in any ideas/advice/suggestions, feel free to message me.**


	4. Mischievousness

**A/N:**

**Thank you for the reviews. Once again, thanks to The Second Quincy for her help and encouragement.**

**Also, I feel kinda bad. I'm neglecting Hitsugaya's Past for this fan-fiction. Then again, I don't think it's my fault exactly… I just enjoy writing this story so much. Also, it seems more people enjoy this story than Hitsugaya's Past.**

**I guess I'll just put Hitsugaya's Past on a hiatus or something… Maybe… We shall see.**

**Anyways, enjoy and review!**

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><p><em>To the parentsguardians of Ichigo Kurosaki and the rest of the Kurosaki household,_

_Congratulations! I am pleased to announce that your son, Ichigo Kurosaki, has been accepted into our prestigious school, Karakura Shinigami Academy. It was thanks to your efforts and the support that you have provided Ichigo that has helped him succeed to this point._

_Putting that aside, I am sure that you are already aware that Ichigo's application was submitted several weeks after the original deadline. However, due to certain references and requests, I took his application into consideration and granted him acceptance to our school._

_To help ease your worries as parents and family members and to prepare Ichigo before entering our school, I must notify you of several things. I have checked into your family history and noted that Ichigo's adjustment to our school will certainly take some time and he will probably have difficulties on this road of high school life. I am sure that you may already know of Karakura Shinigami Academy's reputation of only allowing the children of the most prosperous and well-known of infamous families. That being said, I do wish to encourage your son to join in some sort of extracurricular activity in the school, giving a chance to other students in the school to get to know him. As for our fees, I have decided to grant you the privilege of completely waiving the fees for our school. Unfortunately, I too, as principle, only have so much power, so everything else must be paid for._

_I hope to see Ichigo's success in our school as well as hope for him to adjust as soon as possible._

_Congratulations once again. I look forward to seeing your son on his first day._

_Sincerely,_

_Jushiro Ukitake_

_The Principal_

_P.S. The uniform that you received with this letter is also free of charge. When Ichigo arrives at the dormitory a week before school starts, he will be provided with one more uniform. Try not to ruin the uniform or you'll have to pay for another one._

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><p>"And that's what it says." Yuzu concluded excitedly after placing the paper on top of Ichigo's desk. Eagerly searching around the room for her brother, she realized that he wasn't there. Looking at Karin that had laid down onto Ichigo's bed with her hands spread out and her legs dangling off the side, Yuzu pouted. "Karin, where's Ichigo?"<p>

Karin sat up lazily, yawning out her words. "He left the room shortly after reading the letter over your shoulder. I think he mentioned something about a uniform."

Sitting in Ichigo's chair was Isshin who has his head down on the desk. Apparently, Ichigo had forcefully pulled his dad out of the room without letting him finish watching the soccer match.

Isshin spoke up sulkly without raising his head, "Hey, come to think of it... Toshiro didn't give Ichigo his uniform, did he?"

Still somewhat pouting, Yuzu sat on the bed next to Karin crossing her arms over her chest. "Hmm... You're right. Do you think Ichigo went to find Toshiro?"

Her sister laid back down, this time putting her legs on the bed, and turned around facing the window. "Probably. Wait..." Karin sat back up in realization. "Does he even have his number?"

As if on cue, Ichigo barged in the room – well, his room. "Karin, what's Toshiro's number?"

"Guess that answers my question..."

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><p>Ichigo paced back and forth in front of his house. To any bypasser that didn't know the teen, they would've that he was a stalker or a teen madly in love with a girl in the house he was in front of. Not that anyone necessarily had a problem with having a possible stalker around, but seeing someone stand outside pacing around under the hot afternoon sun on an insanely hot day was the disturbing part with the whole scene. Either way, the frustration and irritation Ichigo was expressing while trying to continuously call someone certainly seemed suspicious. The fact that he had bright orange hair didn't exactly help his case either.<p>

"Damn it, Toshiro! Answer the damn phone!" Ichigo yelled into the phone. "No, first of all, turn on the damn thing!"

Sighing in defeat, Ichigo was about to walk back into the house before someone called out his name.

"Ichigo!"

Turning around, Ichigo saw a tomboy girl with her black hair cut like a boy's and spiked up running up to him.

"Yo, Tatsuki. What's up?" Panting to try to catch her breath, Tatsuki flicked Ichigo on his forehead. Flinching from the sudden gesture, Ichigo automatically put his hand on his forehead, glaring at his best friend. "What the hell was that for?"

Meanwhile, the girl had caught her breath and stood tall before Ichigo with her arms crossed. Ichigo, however, didn't fail to notice her deadly glare.

"Why the hell didn't you tell me that you're going to Karakura Shinigami Academy?" She growled through gritted teeth.

His signature scowl returning to his face, Ichigo replied with indifference. "Well, I didn't plan to. It just happened."

Still not pleased with his answer, she grabbed Ichigo's ear and pulled him down to her level, so she could whisper in his ear. "How about we settle this with a match? If I win, you have to do whatever I say. If you win, it's your call." She whispered challengingly releasing his ear. "Don't forget that you haven't beaten me in a single match."

A smirk spread upon his lips as he stood up straight. "Times have changed, Tatsuki. I'm not like I was back when we were younger."

"Oh really? We'll see about that in the match tomorrow afternoon, crybaby Ichigo." She replied while looking at him with doubtful eyes with a teasing expression mixed into it.

"I'll make you eat those words."

Karin and Yuzu watched from afar as the two best friends bickered among each other throwing insults at each other.

"Those two… They really get along, don't they?" Yuzu asked cheerfully while glancing at her sulking black-haired sister. Karin looked sadly at her brother and his best friend and shrugged as she left the window and headed towards the front door.

"Karin, where are you going?" The brown-haired twin asked while tilting her head, not leaving her post from the window.

Without turning back and with her hand on the doorknob, she answered. "To find my best friend and probably more than that." She left the house without bothering to close the door, leaving a confused Yuzu behind to watch her receding back from the front door.

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><p>The wind blew softly, brushing against the boy's skin and making the silver railing he was leaning against cool once more. His white hair fell over his teal eyes as he stared at the green grass painted slightly with an orange tint from the sun setting. Sighing, the boy took out his cell phone from his pocket and stared at the black screen. Ever since he had stormed out of Ichigo's house, he switched his phone off and didn't feel like communicating with anyone. It's not like Ichigo had his number or anything, but he still didn't feel comfortable leaving it on.<p>

Staring at the sunset, Toshiro decided that he might as well turn it on. After all, his father would get worried if he didn't answer the phone. Turning it on, Toshiro decided to leave his favorite spot in Karakura to head back home.

The sound of 'D-Technolife' playing caused him to stop on the spot. 'After I just turned it on, someone had to call...' Toshiro thought as he answered the phone without looking at the caller ID.

"Toshiro! Thank god you finally answered. I was beginning to think something bad must've happened to you." The voice rambled on and on while Toshiro didn't say a single word the whole time. "Hey, Toshiro...? Are you there?"

"Huh? Uh, yeah." Toshiro answered. "So why'd you call?"

"What are you talking about?" The voice replied, sounding offended and hurt. "I'm your father. Of course, I'd be worried if you didn't answer your phone since lunch."

"Yeah. Of course. Sorry. I'm just thinking about things." Sighing, Toshiro resumed walking, waiting for his father to continue the pointless conversation.

"Toshiro," the man on the other line began speaking seriously. "Did you deliver that letter to the new student?" The boy's thoughts fell back to what happened earlier that day and instantly became irritated with the way Ichigo and Karin were treating him all over again. Apparently, since he didn't respond for a while, his father became worried for him again. "Toshiro? Are you okay?"

Shaking his head clears of the irritating thoughts, he replied slightly monotone. "Yeah. I'm fine. As for that letter, I have delivered it to Ichigo Kurosaki."

A sigh of relief was heard on the other side of the phone. "Good. I suppose you took that uniform as well?"

Toshiro stopped walking immediately upon hearing the word 'uniform'. The white-haired boy furrowed his brows in thought. "Uniform?"

"Yes. You were told to take the letter and the uniform, I recall." The voice stated matter-of- factly.

"Shit..." Breathing that into his phone, Toshiro hung up without saying bye or hearing his father scold him for cursing and broke into a run.

As he ran around the corner, he saw a glimpse of Karin from afar. She was walking slowly with her eyes directed to the ground. Not wanting to talk to her at the moment, Toshiro sped up with the intention of passing by her without her realizing it or at least until it was too late for her to do anything. As he was about to pass by her, Karin's head shot up and her gray eyes locked onto his teal ones. Somewhat surprised, she opened her mouth to say something before closing it immediately. She then grabbed onto Toshiro's wrist with the intention of stopping him, however, the sudden action resulted her on putting extra force onto his arm causing him to fall backwards.

"Ow… What the hell, Karin?" Toshiro complained while rubbing his head. He opened his eyes and was about to get up, but froze when he found himself on top of Karin, his face just inches away from hers.

Color was just about to rush to his face, but instead of finding himself blushing, he realized Karin's face was a bright shade of red while her gray eyes raced back and forth with anxiety and uncertainty between his teal eyes and lips.

Of course, he wasn't dense enough to realize that the position they were both in seemed like he was about to rape her. The thought of it didn't please him at all, but a smirk played on his lips nonetheless.

"What's the matter, Karin?" Toshiro asked slyly bringing his face closer to hers. "Why is your face so red?"

"Huh? U-um… N-n-nothing. My face isn't r-r-red. I-it's your imagination. S-stupid T-Toshiro." She stuttered, speaking really fast as her face turned a darker shade of red.

Toshiro feigned a confused look. "Really?" He placed his forehead on hers, causing Karin to stutter even more.

"B-b-b-b-b-baka T-T-T-Toshiro! W-w-w-what do you t-t-t-think you're d-d-oing?" She yelled in protest, pushing his head away.

"It doesn't seem like you have a fever." He continued, ignoring Karin's outburst. Deciding to drop the innocent act, a smirk bigger than before was on his face. "Oh? It's seems as though you've turned a shade redder." She franticly shook her head side-to-side in denial. Toshiro drew in closer until their noses were almost touching, speaking in a seductive voice. "Is there really nothing wrong, Karin? Nothing that you might want, for example?"

"Yes!" She squeaked upon feeling Toshiro's hot breath on her face. Thanks to that, her mind was racing with multiple thoughts in her head and she couldn't help but think how sexy his voice sounded at the moment. However, Karin being… well, Karin, she wanted to deny it immediately which was the reason why her voice came out squeaky.

"Really? That's good." He answered honestly yet thinking in the back of his mind about how embarrassing this actually was. With a question in mind, Toshiro pulled his head back to give Karin enough space as well to study her expression while she answered to his question. "However, there's something I wanted to ask."

"W-what is it?" She asked after relaxing a bit, but her face didn't turn a shade lighter at all.

With a serious expression, Toshiro studied her face before speaking up again. "Answer it honestly, okay?" Seeing her nod, he continued. "What do you thi–?"

His question was interrupted by the sound of Karin's phone ringing. Clicking his tongue in irritation that was followed by a sigh, Toshiro got off of Karin, sitting down beside her, and crossed his arms across his chest with a bored expression. The blushing black-haired girl sat up and took in a few deep breaths before answering her phone.

"Karin! Where are you? You should've been at home by now!" An angry, worried voice scolded her through the phone.

"Calm down, Ichigo." Karin said with irritation evident in her voice. She looked over at Toshiro and then the sky, noticing that the sun had almost finished setting and the sky had already begun turning into a dark midnight blue. "Oh, sorry about that. I didn't realize that it had gotten so late."

"You didn't notice? What do you mean…?" Karin pulled the phone away from her ear as Ichigo was ranting on the other side of the line. She noticed that Toshiro had gotten up from the ground, brushing the dirt off his clothes. As his teal eyes met her gray ones, she mouthed to him, _Where are you going?_

_Home._ He mouthed back. After seeing the blank look on her face, he pointed to the phone while mouthing, _You have to go too, don't you? _Seeing her nod, he smiled slightly before walking away while waving with the back of his head without turning back.

"See you later, Karin." He whispered after putting his waving hand down with a peaceful and satisfied expression.

"See you later, Toshiro." She said quietly with a gentle smile while watching his receding back, completely ignoring Ichigo's ranting on the phone.

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><p><strong>AN:**

**I hope you liked it.**

**Review would be greatly appreciated. I really would like to know how I'm doing and if you have any opinions and suggestions.**


	5. Initiative

**A/N:**

**Thanks to The Second Quincy for her help and efforts. Anyways, someone asked me how old Ichigo, Karin, and Toshiro are, so here are the answers.**

**Ichigo: 15 (That was his age in the manga and anime in the beginning.)**

**Karin: 11 (Same age as the manga and anime in the beginning.)**

**Toshiro: 13 (Yes, he's a prodigy, but I want him to be older than Karin since he isn't going to the same school as her. Also, I guess it would make him a slightly taller than her since he is a *cough* midget *cough*.)**

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><p>Toshiro stood in front of tall black gates with intricate silver designs, panting heavily as he stared past the luxurious garden to the huge, white mansion that lay beyond it. He bent down placing his hands on his knees to catch his breath before going passed the gates.<p>

"Welcome back, Young Master." Toshiro was greeted warmly with a hand towel shoved in his face.

He gratefully accepted the gesture to wipe the sweat off his forehead. "I thought I told you not to call me that, Momo." He complained. After using the towel, he handed it to the brown-haired girl that had her hair tied in a bun. "Anyways, what are you doing standing out here alone? Also," he paused to look over her attire before continuing, "why are you wearing that?"

"Ah, this!" Momo exclaimed twirling around to show her outfit. "Don't I look nice? I think it's very fitting for me to serve you, don't you think?"

The white-haired boy facepalmed and sweatdropped. "No. No, you don't. You look like a maid…"

The older girl pouted, crossing her arms across her chest. "Stupid Shiro, that was the point."

"No. Just go and get changed." He sighed as he began walking towards to go to the mansion, leaving Momo behind.

"Aww… You're so mean! After I waited all that time for you to come home…" She complained, following closely behind Toshiro like a child that had been scolded.

"It's your own stupidity that you waited for me in the first place, bedwetter Momo." He stated matter-of-factly as he climbed up the four concrete steps to the white framed door with stained glass windows in it.

He placed his hand on top of the gold door handle and opened it after inserted a personalized key of an ice dragon into the keyhole. As soon as the door opened, Toshiro was immediately embraced tightly by a tall man with long, white hair and soft brown eyes.

"Ah, there you are, Toshiro." exclaimed the man, giving no opening for Toshiro to escape.

"L-let go of me, Otou-san!" Toshiro exclaimed in irritation as he struggled in vain. "T-there's no way you could miss me that much in a day!"

The man smiled slightly with a hint of malice in it – very little but present nonetheless. "Well, it seems that you are right on that matter. However, this is the beginning of punishment for cursing on the phone."

Suddenly, the man released Toshiro and gave no breathing time for the boy before pulling him into the house by the ear. "Ow! Can't you be a little gentler?" The boy protested while trying to free his ear from the deadly grip. "I swear my ear's gonna come off if you keep pulling it so hard!"

"Then, maybe you shouldn't curse." Toshiro's father scolded as he pushed his son onto the soft camel-colored sofa.

Toshiro immediately rubbed his ear gently while glaring at his old man with tears at the edge of his teal eyes from the pain. "What the hell, Otou-san? You pulled so damn hard that now it hurts like hell! My ear is ringing now!"

His father narrowed his eyes dangerously as he brought his face closer to Toshiro and began pulling his other ear. "What was that? Three curse words now, was it?"

"Gah! S-stop! I'm sorry, okay?" Toshiro admitted defeat almost immediately as he practically begged his father to stop pulling his ears. "Otou-san, I'm going to lose hearing in both of my ears!"

"Only if you promise that you'll stop cur–"

"Ukitake-san, you have a phone call from Kyoraku-san!" Momo exclaimed just beyond the living room.

This caused Ukitake to sigh and release Toshiro's ear. "Toshiro, I guess I'll let you off this time." He warned before walking off.

"Ukitake-san!" She exclaimed again in impatience.

"Momo-chan, tell him that I'm coming!" He answered back with a smile, all traces of his anger no longer there.

Toshiro watched his father carefully as his receding back disappeared. He slumped farther into the sofa, sighing very deeply and rubbed the tears that had formed around the edge of his eyes. "Shit… I don't think I can hear out of my ears anymore…" Toshiro mumbled grumpily.

He looked around lazily at the 60 inch plasma TV mounted on the wall in front of him, the camel loveseat to his right, the camel couch to his left, and the round, glass, coffee table with silver legs in front of him. He looked down on his feet and realized that he still had his shoes on. His eyes narrowed as they followed a trail of dirt on the wooden floor from where he was sitting to the front door. He sighed, getting up from the sofa and stretched on his way to the front door.

"This is exactly what happens when you have a crazy old man nagging at you constantly." He said aloud while removing his shoes and placing them on the silver shoe rack next to the door. "Now, to clean up this mess."

As he turned around with a sigh of irritation, Toshiro frowned at the sight before him. Momo Hinamori was on the floor cleaning the trail of dirt that he was just about to do. He glared at her as she cleaned quickly and thoroughly while humming some sort of song that Toshiro could care less about. As his glare intensified, Momo finally realized the pair of teal eyes looking at her and looked into them with a smile.

"The uniform that you were supposed to give to Ichigo Kurosaki is upstairs in your bedroom. I also placed a plate of watermelon slices on your desk, so be sure to eat them **after** you take a shower." After she finished giving him the set of directions, she quickly finished what little dirt remained on the wooden floor.

Toshiro stood over her with a scowl and asked the brown-haired girl with irritation in his voice. "Momo, do you have to do everything for me? Would it hurt to let me do something on my own in the house?"

She got up from the floor, brushing off her clothes, and looked back at Toshiro with her unfaltering smile. "Now, now, Toshiro. Don't ask such questions that you already know the answer to. I, Momo Hinamori, can never let you, the young master, do anything when you don't have to, especially if it's something that I can do. For ages, the Hinamori's have been serving the Hitsugaya's and just because our parents grew up as best friends and we happened to grow up together doesn't mean that–"

"'You're willing to break the family tradition.' I know. I know." Toshiro finished her sentence with a sigh of defeat. He began walking off towards the wooden stairs with black railings with silver designs similar to the ones on the front gates. "Just be sure to change out of that maid outfit. You look ridiculous." The boy told her with one glance from the corner of his eye as he walked up the stairs.

"Aww… I really thought that it looked cute on me…" A smirk appeared on his face as he heard her complain in disappointment.

"Or you could dress up in a pair of wet pajamas. I think that would suit you much better, don't you think, bedwetter Momo?" He disappeared into his bedroom before he could give her a chance to retort.

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><p>"What the hell are you doing?" Ichigo exclaimed in irritation, slamming his hand onto the table as he glared at the girl in front of him.<p>

"What do you mean by 'what I am doing'?" replied the black spiky-haired tomboy with indifference. She yawned for what seemed like a tenth time since their argument had started. Wiping the tears from the corner of her eyes from the yawn, she held her chin in her hand and looked straight at the orange-haired teen with extreme boredom. "Ichigo, are you stupid or something?"

He groaned in frustration, getting up from his place on the floor and plopped on top of the sofa. "Argh! Who the hell am I talking to? Forget it." He crossed his arms across his chest, putting on his signature scowl as he pulled his phone out from his pocket. "Besides, the fact that Karin hasn't come home yet is much more important than trying to talk to a violent person called Tatsuki."

"Hey! We still haven't thought of our match. I mean what kind of match is it gonna be?" She whined, not wanting to have to think of something herself.

"Look, I don't have time for this. Either think of something acceptable or forget it."

He snapped back at her as he dialed Karin's number and brought to his ear. The phone began dialing and after the second ring, he heard the sound of music coming from outside the front door. The teen got off the sofa and made his way toward the door. Just when he was about ten away from the front door, the door slammed open and he was immediately greeted with a ringing cell phone in his face.

"Geez! What the hell is your problem? I told you that I was coming. So stop calling me every five damn minutes." Karin yelled at her brother that was picking up her phone from the ground while rubbing the red area around his nose and cheeks.

"Damn, that hurt. You didn't have to throw the damn thing. If you couldn't resist, then at least watch **where** you throw it, stupid." Ichigo complained waving the phone in front of his face in irritation. Sighing, he walked back and plopped onto the sofa again wearing his usual scowl after placing the cell phone on the table. "Anyways, what took you so lo–?"

"Karin!" Tatsuki exclaimed, jumping from her seat off the floor to cover her best friend's mouth, who, in return, gave her a side glare. "You're finally back! Now, I can ask you."

"Ask me what?" The raven-haired girl questioned the older black-haired teen while making her way to the couch beside the sofa.

Ichigo pushed Tatsuki's hand away in attempt to answer his sister's question, only to get it covered again. His groan and whatever complaint he made became muffled by Tatsuki's hands. Trying to shoo Tatsuki away from behind him, he eventually gave up and crossed his hands across his chest in annoyance and resignation all the while cursing her mentally.

"About our competition, of course!" She replied nonchalantly, winking at bored-looking Karin that was sitting on the couch after picking up her phone. "You see, Ichigo here had the nerve to challenge me, but it turns out that he was all bark and no bite since he couldn't think of what kind of match we should have." The orange haired teen growled in response to her reference of him being a dog as his eyebrow twitched in irritation. Tatsuki lowered her head, resting it on his shoulder and whispered to him. "Shut up. It'll be more interesting this way if Karin picks something. Otherwise," she continued, changing her voice into a teasing singsong voice, "if you lose, then you'll say 'It's not fair, Tatsuki. You picked something that you had an advantage in.' or something like that."

"Oh, I know." Karin stated, catching both teens' attention. "How does a street band concert sound?" After voicing her idea, she smiled in satisfaction and put her phone away after sending a certain text message.

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><p><em><strong>MESSAGE SENT!<strong>_

**To:**

**Toshiro "Lil' Shiro" Hitsugaya**

**Subject:**

**Meeting Place Tomorrow?**

**Message:**

**Hey. Can we meet at that place you showed me not too long ago? Ichigo and Tatsuki are going to face off in a street band concert, so I want a good place where people will show up when they hear them play.**

**~Karin**

**P.S. I'll be performing to help Ichigo too. Since it'll be your first time seeing us play, I hope our skills don't blow you away, especially mine. :P**

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><p><strong>AN:**

**Any guesses as to which instrument each of them are gonna play?**

**Review!**


	6. Unexpected

**A/N:**

**Sorry for taking a long time to update. School's starting tomorrow, so I decided to update before the chaotic days start.**

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><p>The next morning, a certain orange-haired teen woke up in the worst possible mood ever. He hadn't woken up in such a foul mood since the last time his father had successfully landed a hit in the teen's face causing him to end up with a broken nose. However, that was a long time ago and Ichigo made sure to pay his old man back for the damage he had done, but that's not the point.<p>

The teen felt restless and annoyed with the upcoming concert that his sister had decided to make as his challenge match with Tatsuki. After she proposed the idea, Ichigo protested strongly against it, but then Karin encouraged him by showing one of her rare genuine smiles by saying "It's fine, isn't it? It's been a while since I've heard you sing one of your songs." Feeling his brotherly instincts being touched, he couldn't refuse it in the end.

So now, here he was, sitting at the dining table with his two dearest sisters and his annoying dad, eating breakfast while patiently waiting for an important incoming text message. The teen had to constantly keep his nerves in check to ensure that he doesn't snap at the next annoying person. However, knowing his crazy family, keeping his calm is almost like asking a fish to breath out of water – an impossible feat.

"Ichigo!" Karin spoke with a louder tone than intended to get her brother's attention. When his chocolate eyes finally met her gray ones, she sighed in exasperation as she noted the obvious irritation and slight confusion in his eyes. "Did you decide the third person for our band?" After mentioning the word 'band', the raven-haired girl studied the teen's expression with a raised eyebrow, not failing to notice his knuckles turn white from gripping his fork and his eyebrows furrow in frustration. Feeling a little confident that her plan was working, she continued speaking in an indifferent tone. "You know, if you don't hurry and find one soon, Tatsuki is gonna make you do something that'll be worth hanging over your head for the rest of your life." Seeing an exhausted yet obliviously pissed off sigh leave her brother's lips, she couldn't help but think 'Just one more push' as a smirk adorned her face. "Now, I'm sure that you wouldn't want that to happen, right, Ichigo?"

Ichigo abruptly stood up from his seat, excusing himself from the table, and dumped his dishes into the sink. Mumbling curses under his breath, he made his way to the stairs, so he could go back to his room to 'prepare' for his upcoming street concert. Climbing halfway up the stairs, he paused to give a side glance at Karin, who had a sly expression on her face while holding her chin in her hand.

"Karin, after you eat, come to my room. We need to discuss what we're going to perform this afternoon." Continuing to climb up the stairs again, he ordered Karin before disappearing into his room, slamming the door shut.

"Don't you think that was a little too cruel, Karin…?" Her twin asked her with slight worry as she glanced back and forth between Ichigo's seat and where he was standing earlier.

"I think 'cruel' would be an understatement. No?" This time, the normally idiotic father answered in a serious tone, looking at his raven-haired daughter in concern. "But, I do believe that since it's Karin, she knows what she's doing."

The person in question merely nodded and grinned to herself as she scoffed at her father. "Of course, I do. After all, who the hell do you think I am?"

"My lovely daughter who will soon bring her boyfriend home again to spend the night!" Isshin exclaimed as he lunged towards Karin to pull her into a hug, allowing the idiocy that he couldn't hold back for long to come back again.

"NO, YOU DUMBASS!" She snapped, sending her father to hug the floor with one of her powerful kicks.

"Masaki!" Isshin exclaimed after picking himself off the floor to run to his wife's poster. "Our daughters don't care about their poor old father anymore!" Isshin sobbed comically, hugging the poster. "I have no one left in this world anymore that would care for me in my old age. Maybe I should – oof!" His sentence remained unfinished as a soccer ball hit him squarely on the head.

"Just take that damn poster down already!"

"Karin, you know," Yuzu began speaking as if to point something out as the normal antics continued, "you never denied that part of having a boyfriend." She suddenly gasped as her eyes became sparkly and looked at her twin while fantasizing. "Does that mean Hitsugaya-kun is –?"

"DON'T EVEN FINISH THAT SENTENCE!"

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><p>Ichigo slumped into his chair and put his head down onto his desk, sighing for what seemed like the umpteenth time since he entered his room. Playing music and singing was something he had given up a long time ago and now, because of his rash decision of challenging Tatsuki, he's back at the doorstep of music again. That, by no means, pleased the teen at all. After all, he had this terrible gut feeling that this will probably lead him – if not, drag him – back into the music world with no way to escape and no way to return.<p>

Just as negative thoughts that had been pushed into the back of his mind for a long time was about to resurface in his mind after mentioning music, Ichigo felt his phone briefly vibrate in his pocket before it started ringing loudly. Still feeling very irritated at almost every little thing in this world and in his life, he answered the phone, basically shouting into it without checking the caller ID – clearly not in the mood to give a damn as to who it may be.

"What do you want, damn it?"

Hearing a slight chuckle of what seemed like slight surprise and more ridicule on the other side of the line, Ichigo furrowed his brows and heaved a sigh as he waited for the person to answer.

"_You've got some nerve._" The voice spoke irritably, almost as if he was glaring daggers and breathing ice from the other end. "_Is that really the way you should talk after asking someone a favor not too long after pissing them off?_" Ichigo opened his mouth immediately to retort, but the caller continued nonetheless, showing no interest in the teen's answer. "_As for your request, let me tell you that I'll be coming in the afternoon for two reasons._"

"And what's that?" Ichigo snapped rather too quickly without letting the caller continue.

A sigh came for the other side of the line as he answered somewhat sarcastically. "_Well, I don't know. Maybe if you'd let me continue, we'll find out._" The caller released another sigh – one of exasperation and irritation – and continued. "_Two reasons. One: I have something to give you that I forgot to do so earlier. Two: Your sister has carelessly challenged me – unknowingly, that is – so I'll be your third member._"

"Karin did?" The teen asked while leaning back in his chair, having relaxed by venting out the little frustration he had at the caller.

"_Obviously. Anyways, one more thing. Just show me what you have when you get there. I'll adjust to your songs just fine._"

"Fine by me. It's not like we have time anyways." Ichigo agreed, taking a look at the few scattered music scores on the left half on his desk.

"_What'd you expect? It is a street performance after all. Just one thing's bothering me. When the hell did you get my number?_"

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><p>Karin stood in front of the door with a surprised speechless expression, pointing at the figure standing outside the front door with a trembling hand. The figure merely shrugged with a slight smirk on his face as the sunlight reflected off the gold dragon designed on his black t-shirt and the gold chains dangling from the sides of his dark blue jeans.<p>

Laughing inwardly at the shocked girl's expression, he placed his hand on the door frame to lean on it and spoke in a teasing voice. "Well, aren't you going to let me in? It's pretty damn hot out here considering that I walked all the way over here."

Karin blushed immediately after realizing that she stood in front of the door in such a dumbfounded state longer than intended. She quickly regained her composure by coughing lightly and clearing her throat as she walked away from the door. "It's not like I told you to not come in."

"But you didn't say to come in either." He stated after closing the front door and headed towards the staircase.

"Shut up! Just the other day, you waltz in here as if this was your house." She retorted, glaring at the white-haired boy's back. Karin suddenly frowned after noticing a small package in his left hand. "Toshiro, is that Ichigo's uniform?"

Without stopping, Toshiro merely waved the hand that was holding the package. "Yeah, I forgot to bring it the other day. Anyways," the boy paused to take a side glance at the raven-haired girl, "I'm your third member, in case Ichigo didn't tell you."

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><p><strong>AN:**

**Wow, was that a shocking revelation? Maybe? Anyways, shoot me a review to tell me what you thought of it.**

**Also, sorry to disappoint some of you guys if you thought this chapter was the concert. The concert's definitely in the next chapter though.**

**Anyways, please do guess what instrument each of the characters is going to play. I could use some suggestions. (Already have an idea, but who knows, I might change it if I like your idea better.)**

**I would like to have some ideas on a good name for Ichigo's band.**

**REVIEW!**


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